No. 7 Indiana men’s soccer senior midfielder Patrick McDonald stood in the six-yard box, motionless for a few seconds. He looked around with his arms at his side, while senior goalkeeper JT Harms retrieved the ball that had just flown past him to give Saint Louis University a two-goal lead.
McDonald’s mannerisms were indicative of much of the game for Indiana, which ended 2-0 in favor of the Billikens — slow and motionless.
“There’s a good number of experienced players on our team that just didn’t have their game tonight,” Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley said postgame. “Maybe what we did in preparation wasn’t enough. I’ll take responsibility because it clearly wasn’t close to our standard.”
Indiana began the game with freshman defenseman Jack Lindimore in the center back spot next to fifth-year senior Jansen Miller, a role that was held a season ago by now Saint Louis captain Joey Maher. Graduate student forward Justin Weiss and junior defender Quinton Elliot also made their debuts in the starting lineup after transferring from Northwestern and the University of Louisville, respectively.
Saint Louis began the game on the front foot, generating four corners in 13 minutes. Indiana was able to nullify them, mostly through clearance punches from Harms, but eventually the Billikens capitalized on their chances.
In the 16th minute, Saint Louis forward Luis Lara challenged Lindimore one on one and beat him down the endline. Lara’s pass entered the box and eventually fell to the feet of Matthew Wrobel. The senior cut back from his right foot to his left, and his effort nestled into the corner of the net to give Saint Louis the lead.
Indiana provided little response to the setback, finishing the half with only one shot, which was blocked. Yeagley went to his bench for some positive reinforcements, bringing on freshman striker Michael Nesci, sophomore winger Clay Murador and graduate student midfielder Luke Jeffus, but Indiana still struggled offensively.
Conversely, Saint Louis continued to pile up chances. A combination between brothers Seth and Tanner Anderson ended with a Harms block, but the play was ruled offside anyway.
The brothers continued to wreak havoc, as minutes later, a squared ball from Seth reached the feet of Tanner, who placed a shot to the far corner of the net. Only a diving save from Harms was able to stop the Billikens from adding to their advantage. Then on the ensuing corner, Harms was once again called to action, sprawling across the goal to make a diving stop from a Wrobles header.
Beginning the second half, Indiana and Saint Louis exchanged opportunities, but not until the 60th minute were the Billikens able to add to their lead.
A dangerous cross into the box from a Seth Anderson free kick bounced once before an outstretched leg from Indiana’s Miller led the ball into the bottom corner, adding to a deficit the Hoosiers never recovered from.
But despite the goal, Indiana continued to push. With nine minutes to go in the game, Miller redeemed his error by winning a penalty kick for Indiana. Weiss stepped up to the spot with the chance to halve the lead and net his first goal as a Hoosier. However, Billikens senior goalkeeper Jeremi Abonnel dove to his right and saved the penalty as well as the follow up opportunity from Murador, keeping Indiana goalless.
Indiana mustered up a couple more shots, as Sarver earned a save from Abonnel after a thunderstruck free kick and Nesci nearly poked the ball into the net off a cross, but Saint Louis held firm to keep the lead and clean sheet.
“We have to be better, and I’m confident we will be,” Yeagley said. “It’s a long season, there’s a lot of soccer ahead.”
The Hoosiers return to action against the University of Notre Dame at 8 p.m. on Aug. 29 at Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington.
Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer covers Indiana men’s soccer for Indiana Daily Student. Follow him on X @mateo_frohwer or reach him via e-mail at matfuent@iu.edu.
